Utopia by Thomas More

Its easy to link to paragraphs in the Full Text ArchiveIf this page contains some material that you want to link to but you don't want your visitors to have to scroll down the whole page just hover your mouse over the relevent paragraph and click the bookmark icon that appears to the left of it. The address of that paragraph will appear in the address bar of your browser. For further details about how you can link to the Full Text Archive please refer to our linking page.

This etext was prepared by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.ukfrom the 1901 Cassell & Co. edition.

UTOPIA

by Thomas More

INTRODUCTION

Sir Thomas More, son of Sir John More, a justice of the King'sBench, was born in 1478, in Milk Street, in the city of London.After his earlier education at St. Anthony's School, inThreadneedle Street, he was placed, as a boy, in the household ofCardinal John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor.It was not unusual for persons of wealth or influence and sons ofgood families to be so established together in a relation of patronand client. The youth wore his patron's livery, and added to hisstate. The patron used, afterwards, his wealth or influence inhelping his young client forward in the world. Cardinal Morton hadbeen in earlier days that Bishop of Ely whom Richard III. sent tothe Tower; was busy afterwards in hostility to Richard; and was achief adviser of Henry VII., who in 1486 made him Archbishop ofCanterbury, and nine months afterwards Lord Chancellor. CardinalMorton--of talk at whose table there are recollections in "Utopia"--delighted in the quick wit of young Thomas More. He once said,"Whoever shall live to try it, shall see this child here waiting attable prove a notable and rare man."

At the age of about nineteen, Thomas More was sent to CanterburyCollege, Oxford, by his patron, where he learnt Greek of the firstmen who brought Greek studies from Italy to England--William Grocynand Thomas Linacre. Linacre, a physician, who afterwards tookorders, was also the founder of the College of Physicians. In1499, More left Oxford to study law in London, at Lincoln's Inn,and in the next year Archbishop Morton died.

More's earnest character caused him while studying law to aim atthe subduing of the flesh, by wearing a hair shirt, taking a logfor a pillow, and whipping himself on Fridays. At the age oftwenty-one he entered Parliament, and soon after he had been calledto the bar he was made Under-Sheriff of London. In 1503 he opposedin the House of Commons Henry VII.'s proposal for a subsidy onaccount of the marriage portion of his daughter Margaret; and heopposed with so much energy that the House refused to grant it.One went and told the king that a beardless boy had disappointedall his expectations. During the last years, therefore, of HenryVII. More was under the displeasure of the king, and had thoughtsof leaving the country.

Henry VII. died in April, 1509, when More's age was a little overthirty. In the first years of the reign of Henry VIII. he rose tolarge practice in the law courts, where it is said he refused toplead in cases which he thought unjust, and took no fees fromwidows, orphans, or the poor. He would have preferred marrying thesecond daughter of John Colt, of New Hall, in Essex, but chose herelder sister, that he might not subject her to the discredit ofbeing passed over.

In 1513 Thomas More, still Under-Sheriff of London, is said to havewritten his "History of the Life and Death of King Edward V., andof the Usurpation of Richard III." The book, which seems tocontain the knowledge and opinions of More's patron, Morton, wasnot printed until 1557, when its writer had been twenty-two yearsdead. It was then printed from a MS. in More's handwriting.

In the year 1515 Wolsey, Archbishop of York, was made Cardinal byLeo X.; Henry VIII. made him Lord Chancellor, and from that yearuntil 1523 the King and the Cardinal ruled England with absoluteauthority, and called no parliament. In May of the year 1515Thomas More--not knighted yet--was joined in a commission to theLow Countries with Cuthbert Tunstal and others to confer with theambassadors of Charles V., then only Archduke of Austria, upon arenewal of alliance. On that embassy More, aged about thirty-seven, was absent from England for six months, and while at Antwerphe established friendship with Peter Giles (Latinised AEgidius), ascholarly and courteous young man, who was secretary to themunicipality of Antwerp.

Cuthbert Tunstal was a rising churchman, chancellor to theArchbishop of Canterbury, who in that year (1515) was madeArchdeacon of Chester, and in May of the next year (1516) Master ofthe Rolls. In 1516 he was sent again to the Low Countries, andMore then went with him to Brussels, where they were in closecompanionship with Erasmus.

More's "Utopia" was written in Latin, and is in two parts, of whichthe second, describing the place ([Greek text]--or Nusquama, as hecalled it sometimes in his letters--"Nowhere"), was probablywritten towards the close of 1515; the first part, introductory,early in 1516. The book was first printed at Louvain, late in1516, under the editorship of Erasmus, Peter Giles, and other ofMore's friends in Flanders. It was then revised by More, andprinted by Frobenius at Basle in November, 1518. It was reprintedat Paris and Vienna, but was not printed in England during More'slifetime. Its first publication in this country was in the Englishtranslation, made in Edward's VI.'s reign (1551) by Ralph Robinson.It was translated with more literary skill by Gilbert Burnet, in1684, soon after he had conducted the defence of his friend LordWilliam Russell, attended his execution, vindicated his memory, andbeen spitefully deprived by James II. of his lectureship at St.Clement's. Burnet was drawn to the translation of "Utopia" by thesame sense of unreason in high places that caused More to write thebook. Burnet's is the translation given in this volume.

The name of the book has given an adjective to our language--wecall an impracticable scheme Utopian. Yet, under the veil of aplayful fiction, the talk is intensely earnest, and abounds inpractical suggestion. It is the work of a scholarly and wittyEnglishman, who attacks in his own way the chief political andsocial evils of his time. Beginning with fact, More tells how hewas sent into Flanders with Cuthbert Tunstal, "whom the king'smajesty of late, to the great rejoicing of all men, did prefer tothe office of Master of the Rolls;" how the commissioners ofCharles met them at Bruges, and presently returned to Brussels forinstructions; and how More then went to Antwerp, where he found apleasure in the society of Peter Giles which soothed his desire tosee again his wife and children, from whom he had been four monthsaway. Then fact slides into fiction with the finding of RaphaelHythloday (whose name, made of two Greek words [Greek text] and[Greek text], means "knowing in trifles"), a man who had been withAmerigo Vespucci in the three last of the voyages to the new worldlately discovered, of which the account had been first printed in1507, only nine years before Utopia was written.

Designedly fantastic in suggestion of details, "Utopia" is the workof a scholar who had read Plato's "Republic," and had his fancyquickened after reading Plutarch's account of Spartan life underLycurgus. Beneath the veil of an ideal communism, into which therehas been worked some witty extravagance, there lies a noble Englishargument. Sometimes More puts the case as of France when he meansEngland. Sometimes there is ironical praise of the good faith ofChristian kings, saving the book from censure as a political attackon the policy of Henry VIII. Erasmus wrote to a friend in 1517that he should send for More's "Utopia," if he had not read it, and"wished to see the true source of all political evils." And toMore Erasmus wrote of his book, "A burgomaster of Antwerp is sopleased with it that he knows it all by heart."

H. M.

DISCOURSES OF RAPHAEL HYTHLODAY,OF THE BEST STATE OF A COMMONWEALTH

Henry VIII., the unconquered King of England, a prince adorned withall the virtues that become a great monarch, having somedifferences of no small consequence with Charles the most serenePrince of Castile, sent me into Flanders, as his ambassador, fortreating and composing matters between them. I was colleague andcompanion to that incomparable man Cuthbert Tonstal, whom the King,with such universal applause, lately made Master of the Rolls; butof whom I will say nothing; not because I fear that the testimonyof a friend will be suspected, but rather because his learning andvirtues are too great for me to do them justice, and so well known,that they need not my commendations, unless I would, according tothe proverb, "Show the sun with a lantern." Those that wereappointed by the Prince to treat with us, met us at Bruges,according to agreement; they were all worthy men. The Margrave ofBruges was their head, and the chief man among them; but he thatwas esteemed the wisest, and that spoke for the rest, was GeorgeTemse, the Provost of Casselsee: both art and nature had concurredto make him eloquent: he was very learned in the law; and, as hehad a great capacity, so, by a long practice in affairs, he wasvery dexterous at unravelling them. After we had several timesmet, without coming to an agreement, they went to Brussels for somedays, to know the Prince's pleasure; and, since our business wouldadmit it, I went to Antwerp. While I was there, among many thatvisited me, there was one that was more acceptable to me than anyother, Peter Giles, born at Antwerp, who is a man of great honour,and of a good rank in his town, though less than he deserves; for Ido not know if there be anywhere to be found a more learned and abetter bred young man; for as he is both a very worthy and a veryknowing person, so he is so civil to all men, so particularly kindto his friends, and so full of candour and affection, that there isnot, perhaps, above one or two anywhere to be found, that is in allrespects so perfect a friend: he is extraordinarily modest, thereis no artifice in him, and yet no man has more of a prudentsimplicity. His conversation was so pleasant and so innocentlycheerful, that his company in a great measure lessened any longingsto go back to my country, and to my wife and children, which anabsence of four months had quickened very much. One day, as I wasreturning home from mass at St. Mary's, which is the chief church,and the most frequented of any in Antwerp, I saw him, by accident,talking with a stranger, who seemed past the flower of his age; hisface was tanned, he had a long beard, and his cloak was hangingcarelessly about him, so that, by his looks and habit, I concludedhe was a seaman. As soon as Peter saw me, he came and saluted me,and as I was returning his civility, he took me aside, and pointingto him with whom he had been discoursing, he said, "Do you see thatman? I was just thinking to bring him to you." I answered, "Heshould have been very welcome on your account." "And on his owntoo," replied he, "if you knew the man, for there is none alivethat can give so copious an account of unknown nations andcountries as he can do, which I know you very much desire.""Then," said I, "I did not guess amiss, for at first sight I tookhim for a seaman." "But you are much mistaken," said he, "for hehas not sailed as a seaman, but as a traveller, or rather aphilosopher. This Raphael, who from his family carries the name ofHythloday, is not ignorant of the Latin tongue, but is eminentlylearned in the Greek, having applied himself more particularly tothat than to the former, because he had given himself much tophilosophy, in which he knew that the Romans have left us nothingthat is valuable, except what is to be found in Seneca and Cicero.He is a Portuguese by birth, and was so desirous of seeing theworld, that he divided his estate among his brothers, ran the samehazard as Americus Vesputius, and bore a share in three of his fourvoyages that are now published; only he did not return with him inhis last, but obtained leave of him, almost by force, that he mightbe one of those twenty-four who were left at the farthest place atwhich they touched in their last voyage to New Castile. Theleaving him thus did not a little gratify one that was more fond oftravelling than of returning home to be buried in his own country;for he used often to say, that the way to heaven was the same fromall places, and he that had no grave had the heavens still overhim. Yet this disposition of mind had cost him dear, if God hadnot been very gracious to him; for after he, with five Castalians,had travelled over many countries, at last, by strange goodfortune, he got to Ceylon, and from thence to Calicut, where he,very happily, found some Portuguese ships; and, beyond all men'sexpectations, returned to his native country." When Peter had saidthis to me, I thanked him for his kindness in intending to give methe acquaintance of a man whose conversation he knew would be soacceptable; and upon that Raphael and I embraced each other. Afterthose civilities were past which are usual with strangers upontheir first meeting, we all went to my house, and entering into thegarden, sat down on a green bank and entertained one another indiscourse. He told us that when Vesputius had sailed away, he, andhis companions that stayed behind in New Castile, by degreesinsinuated themselves into the affections of the people of thecountry, meeting often with them and treating them gently; and atlast they not only lived among them without danger, but conversedfamiliarly with them, and got so far into the heart of a prince,whose name and country I have forgot, that he both furnished themplentifully with all things necessary, and also with theconveniences of travelling, both boats when they went by water, andwaggons when they trained over land: he sent with them a veryfaithful guide, who was to introduce and recommend them to suchother princes as they had a mind to see: and after many days'journey, they came to towns, and cities, and to commonwealths, thatwere both happily governed and well peopled. Under the equator,and as far on both sides of it as the sun moves, there lay vastdeserts that were parched with the perpetual heat of the sun; thesoil was withered, all things looked dismally, and all places wereeither quite uninhabited, or abounded with wild beasts andserpents, and some few men, that were neither less wild nor lesscruel than the beasts themselves. But, as they went farther, a newscene opened, all things grew milder, the air less burning, thesoil more verdant, and even the beasts were less wild: and, atlast, there were nations, towns, and cities, that had not onlymutual commerce among themselves and with their neighbours, buttraded, both by sea and land, to very remote countries. There theyfound the conveniencies of seeing many countries on all hands, forno ship went any voyage into which he and his companions were notvery welcome. The first vessels that they saw were flat-bottomed,their sails were made of reeds and wicker, woven close together,only some were of leather; but, afterwards, they found ships madewith round keels and canvas sails, and in all respects like ourships, and the seamen understood both astronomy and navigation. Hegot wonderfully into their favour by showing them the use of theneedle, of which till then they were utterly ignorant. They sailedbefore with great caution, and only in summer time; but now theycount all seasons alike, trusting wholly to the loadstone, in whichthey are, perhaps, more secure than safe; so that there is reasonto fear that this discovery, which was thought would prove so muchto their advantage, may, by their imprudence, become an occasion ofmuch mischief to them. But it were too long to dwell on all thathe told us he had observed in every place, it would be too great adigression from our present purpose: whatever is necessary to betold concerning those wise and prudent institutions which heobserved among civilised nations, may perhaps be related by us on amore proper occasion. We asked him many questions concerning allthese things, to which he answered very willingly; we made noinquiries after monsters, than which nothing is more common; foreverywhere one may hear of ravenous dogs and wolves, and cruel men-eaters, but it is not so easy to find states that are well andwisely governed.

As he told us of many things that were amiss in those new-discovered countries, so he reckoned up not a few things, fromwhich patterns might be taken for correcting the errors of thesenations among whom we live; of which an account may be given, as Ihave already promised, at some other time; for, at present, Iintend only to relate those particulars that he told us, of themanners and laws of the Utopians: but I will begin with theoccasion that led us to speak of that commonwealth. After Raphaelhad discoursed with great judgment on the many errors that wereboth among us and these nations, had treated of the wiseinstitutions both here and there, and had spoken as distinctly ofthe customs and government of every nation through which he hadpast, as if he had spent his whole life in it, Peter, being struckwith admiration, said, "I wonder, Raphael, how it comes that youenter into no king's service, for I am sure there are none to whomyou would not be very acceptable; for your learning and knowledge,both of men and things, is such, that you would not only entertainthem very pleasantly, but be of great use to them, by the examplesyou could set before them, and the advices you could give them; andby this means you would both serve your own interest, and be ofgreat use to all your friends." "As for my friends," answered he,"I need not be much concerned, having already done for them allthat was incumbent on me; for when I was not only in good health,but fresh and young, I distributed that among my kindred andfriends which other people do not part with till they are old andsick: when they then unwillingly give that which they can enjoy nolonger themselves. I think my friends ought to rest contented withthis, and not to expect that for their sakes I should enslavemyself to any king whatsoever." "Soft and fair!" said Peter; "I donot mean that you should be a slave to any king, but only that youshould assist them and be useful to them." "The change of theword," said he, "does not alter the matter." "But term it as youwill," replied Peter, "I do not see any other way in which you canbe so useful, both in private to your friends and to the public,and by which you can make your own condition happier." "Happier?"answered Raphael, "is that to be compassed in a way so abhorrent tomy genius? Now I live as I will, to which I believe, few courtierscan pretend; and there are so many that court the favour of greatmen, that there will be no great loss if they are not troubledeither with me or with others of my temper." Upon this, said I, "Iperceive, Raphael, that you neither desire wealth nor greatness;and, indeed, I value and admire such a man much more than I do anyof the great men in the world. Yet I think you would do what wouldwell become so generous and philosophical a soul as yours is, ifyou would apply your time and thoughts to public affairs, eventhough you may happen to find it a little uneasy to yourself; andthis you can never do with so much advantage as by being taken intothe council of some great prince and putting him on noble andworthy actions, which I know you would do if you were in such apost; for the springs both of good and evil flow from the princeover a whole nation, as from a lasting fountain. So much learningas you have, even without practice in affairs, or so great apractice as you have had, without any other learning, would renderyou a very fit counsellor to any king whatsoever." "You are doublymistaken," said he, "Mr. More, both in your opinion of me and inthe judgment you make of things: for as I have not that capacitythat you fancy I have, so if I had it, the public would not be onejot the better when I had sacrificed my quiet to it. For mostprinces apply themselves more to affairs of war than to the usefularts of peace; and in these I neither have any knowledge, nor do Imuch desire it; they are generally more set on acquiring newkingdoms, right or wrong, than on governing well those theypossess: and, among the ministers of princes, there are none thatare not so wise as to need no assistance, or at least, that do notthink themselves so wise that they imagine they need none; and ifthey court any, it is only those for whom the prince has muchpersonal favour, whom by their fawning and flatteries theyendeavour to fix to their own interests; and, indeed, nature has somade us, that we all love to be flattered and to please ourselveswith our own notions: the old crow loves his young, and the apeher cubs. Now if in such a court, made up of persons who envy allothers and only admire themselves, a person should but proposeanything that he had either read in history or observed in histravels, the rest would think that the reputation of their wisdomwould sink, and that their interests would be much depressed ifthey could not run it down: and, if all other things failed, thenthey would fly to this, that such or such things pleased ourancestors, and it were well for us if we could but match them.They would set up their rest on such an answer, as a sufficientconfutation of all that could be said, as if it were a greatmisfortune that any should be found wiser than his ancestors. Butthough they willingly let go all the good things that were amongthose of former ages, yet, if better things are proposed, theycover themselves obstinately with this excuse of reverence to pasttimes. I have met with these proud, morose, and absurd judgmentsof things in many places, particularly once in England." "Were youever there?" said I. "Yes, I was," answered he, "and stayed somemonths there, not long after the rebellion in the West wassuppressed, with a great slaughter of the poor people that wereengaged in it.

"I was then much obliged to that reverend prelate, John Morton,Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal, and Chancellor of England; aman," said he, "Peter (for Mr. More knows well what he was), thatwas not less venerable for his wisdom and virtues than for the highcharacter he bore: he was of a middle stature, not broken withage; his looks begot reverence rather than fear; his conversationwas easy, but serious and grave; he sometimes took pleasure to trythe force of those that came as suitors to him upon business byspeaking sharply, though decently, to them, and by that hediscovered their spirit and presence of mind; with which he wasmuch delighted when it did not grow up to impudence, as bearing agreat resemblance to his own temper, and he looked on such personsas the fittest men for affairs. He spoke both gracefully andweightily; he was eminently skilled in the law, had a vastunderstanding, and a prodigious memory; and those excellent talentswith which nature had furnished him were improved by study andexperience. When I was in England the King depended much on hiscounsels, and the Government seemed to be chiefly supported by him;for from his youth he had been all along practised in affairs; and,having passed through many traverses of fortune, he had, with greatcost, acquired a vast stock of wisdom, which is not soon lost whenit is purchased so dear. One day, when I was dining with him,there happened to be at table one of the English lawyers, who tookoccasion to run out in a high commendation of the severe executionof justice upon thieves, 'who,' as he said, 'were then hanged sofast that there were sometimes twenty on one gibbet!' and, uponthat, he said, 'he could not wonder enough how it came to passthat, since so few escaped, there were yet so many thieves left,who were still robbing in all places.' Upon this, I (who took theboldness to speak freely before the Cardinal) said, 'There was noreason to wonder at the matter, since this way of punishing thieveswas neither just in itself nor good for the public; for, as theseverity was too great, so the remedy was not effectual; simpletheft not being so great a crime that it ought to cost a man hislife; no punishment, how severe soever, being able to restrainthose from robbing who can find out no other way of livelihood. Inthis,' said I, 'not only you in England, but a great part of theworld, imitate some ill masters, that are readier to chastise theirscholars than to teach them. There are dreadful punishmentsenacted against thieves, but it were much better to make such goodprovisions by which every man might be put in a method how to live,and so be preserved from the fatal necessity of stealing and ofdying for it.' 'There has been care enough taken for that,' saidhe; 'there are many handicrafts, and there is husbandry, by whichthey may make a shift to live, unless they have a greater mind tofollow ill courses.' 'That will not serve your turn,' said I, 'formany lose their limbs in civil or foreign wars, as lately in theCornish rebellion, and some time ago in your wars with France, who,being thus mutilated in the service of their king and country, canno more follow their old trades, and are too old to learn new ones;but since wars are only accidental things, and have intervals, letus consider those things that fall out every day. There is a greatnumber of noblemen among you that are themselves as idle as drones,that subsist on other men's labour, on the labour of their tenants,whom, to raise their revenues, they pare to the quick. This,indeed, is the only instance of their frugality, for in all otherthings they are prodigal, even to the beggaring of themselves; but,besides this, they carry about with them a great number of idlefellows, who never learned any art by which they may gain theirliving; and these, as soon as either their lord dies, or theythemselves fall sick, are turned out of doors; for your lords arereadier to feed idle people than to take care of the sick; andoften the heir is not able to keep together so great a family ashis predecessor did. Now, when the stomachs of those that are thusturned out of doors grow keen, they rob no less keenly; and whatelse can they do? For when, by wandering about, they have worn outboth their health and their clothes, and are tattered, and lookghastly, men of quality will not entertain them, and poor men darenot do it, knowing that one who has been bred up in idleness andpleasure, and who was used to walk about with his sword andbuckler, despising all the neighbourhood with an insolent scorn asfar below him, is not fit for the spade and mattock; nor will heserve a poor man for so small a hire and in so low a diet as he canafford to give him.' To this he answered, 'This sort of men oughtto be particularly cherished, for in them consists the force of thearmies for which we have occasion; since their birth inspires themwith a nobler sense of honour than is to be found among tradesmenor ploughmen.' 'You may as well say,' replied I, 'that you mustcherish thieves on the account of wars, for you will never want theone as long as you have the other; and as robbers prove sometimesgallant soldiers, so soldiers often prove brave robbers, so near analliance there is between those two sorts of life. But this badcustom, so common among you, of keeping many servants, is notpeculiar to this nation. In France there is yet a more pestiferoussort of people, for the whole country is full of soldiers, stillkept up in time of peace (if such a state of a nation can be calleda peace); and these are kept in pay upon the same account that youplead for those idle retainers about noblemen: this being a maximof those pretended statesmen, that it is necessary for the publicsafety to have a good body of veteran soldiers ever in readiness.They think raw men are not to be depended on, and they sometimesseek occasions for making war, that they may train up theirsoldiers in the art of cutting throats, or, as Sallust observed,"for keeping their hands in use, that they may not grow dull by toolong an intermission." But France has learned to its cost howdangerous it is to feed such beasts. The fate of the Romans,Carthaginians, and Syrians, and many other nations and cities,which were both overturned and quite ruined by those standingarmies, should make others wiser; and the folly of this maxim ofthe French appears plainly even from this, that their trainedsoldiers often find your raw men prove too hard for them, of whichI will not say much, lest you may think I flatter the English.Every day's experience shows that the mechanics in the towns or theclowns in the country are not afraid of fighting with those idlegentlemen, if they are not disabled by some misfortune in theirbody or dispirited by extreme want; so that you need not fear thatthose well-shaped and strong men (for it is only such that noblemenlove to keep about them till they spoil them), who now grow feeblewith ease and are softened with their effeminate manner of life,would be less fit for action if they were well bred and wellemployed. And it seems very unreasonable that, for the prospect ofa war, which you need never have but when you please, you shouldmaintain so many idle men, as will always disturb you in time ofpeace, which is ever to be more considered than war. But I do notthink that this necessity of stealing arises only from hence; thereis another cause of it, more peculiar to England.' 'What is that?'said the Cardinal: 'The increase of pasture,' said I, 'by whichyour sheep, which are naturally mild, and easily kept in order, maybe said now to devour men and unpeople, not only villages, buttowns; for wherever it is found that the sheep of any soil yield asofter and richer wool than ordinary, there the nobility andgentry, and even those holy men, the dobots! not contented with theold rents which their farms yielded, nor thinking it enough thatthey, living at their ease, do no good to the public, resolve to doit hurt instead of good. They stop the course of agriculture,destroying houses and towns, reserving only the churches, andenclose grounds that they may lodge their sheep in them. As ifforests and parks had swallowed up too little of the land, thoseworthy countrymen turn the best inhabited places into solitudes;for when an insatiable wretch, who is a plague to his country,resolves to enclose many thousand acres of ground, the owners, aswell as tenants, are turned out of their possessions by trick or bymain force, or, being wearied out by ill usage, they are forced tosell them; by which means those miserable people, both men andwomen, married and unmarried, old and young, with their poor butnumerous families (since country business requires many hands), areall forced to change their seats, not knowing whither to go; andthey must sell, almost for nothing, their household stuff, whichcould not bring them much money, even though they might stay for abuyer. When that little money is at an end (for it will be soonspent), what is left for them to do but either to steal, and so tobe hanged (God knows how justly!), or to go about and beg? and ifthey do this they are put in prison as idle vagabonds, while theywould willingly work but can find none that will hire them; forthere is no more occasion for country labour, to which they havebeen bred, when there is no arable ground left. One shepherd canlook after a flock, which will stock an extent of ground that wouldrequire many hands if it were to be ploughed and reaped. This,likewise, in many places raises the price of corn. The price ofwool is also so risen that the poor people, who were wont to makecloth, are no more able to buy it; and this, likewise, makes manyof them idle: for since the increase of pasture God has punishedthe avarice of the owners by a rot among the sheep, which hasdestroyed vast numbers of them--to us it might have seemed morejust had it fell on the owners themselves. But, suppose the sheepshould increase ever so much, their price is not likely to fall;since, though they cannot be called a monopoly, because they arenot engrossed by one person, yet they are in so few hands, andthese are so rich, that, as they are not pressed to sell themsooner than they have a mind to it, so they never do it till theyhave raised the price as high as possible. And on the same accountit is that the other kinds of cattle are so dear, because manyvillages being pulled down, and all country labour being muchneglected, there are none who make it their business to breed them.The rich do not breed cattle as they do sheep, but buy them leanand at low prices; and, after they have fattened them on theirgrounds, sell them again at high rates. And I do not think thatall the inconveniences this will produce are yet observed; for, asthey sell the cattle dear, so, if they are consumed faster than thebreeding countries from which they are brought can afford them,then the stock must decrease, and this must needs end in greatscarcity; and by these means, this your island, which seemed as tothis particular the happiest in the world, will suffer much by thecursed avarice of a few persons: besides this, the rising of cornmakes all people lessen their families as much as they can; andwhat can those who are dismissed by them do but either beg or rob?And to this last a man of a great mind is much sooner drawn than tothe former. Luxury likewise breaks in apace upon you to setforward your poverty and misery; there is an excessive vanity inapparel, and great cost in diet, and that not only in noblemen'sfamilies, but even among tradesmen, among the farmers themselves,and among all ranks of persons. You have also many infamoushouses, and, besides those that are known, the taverns and ale-houses are no better; add to these dice, cards, tables, football,tennis, and quoits, in which money runs fast away; and those thatare initiated into them must, in the conclusion, betake themselvesto robbing for a supply. Banish these plagues, and give ordersthat those who have dispeopled so much soil may either rebuild thevillages they have pulled down or let out their grounds to such aswill do it; restrain those engrossings of the rich, that are as badalmost as monopolies; leave fewer occasions to idleness; letagriculture be set up again, and the manufacture of the wool beregulated, that so there may be work found for those companies ofidle people whom want forces to be thieves, or who now, being idlevagabonds or useless servants, will certainly grow thieves at last.If you do not find a remedy to these evils it is a vain thing toboast of your severity in punishing theft, which, though it mayhave the appearance of justice, yet in itself is neither just norconvenient; for if you suffer your people to be ill-educated, andtheir manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punishthem for those crimes to which their first education disposed them,what else is to be concluded from this but that you first makethieves and then punish them?'

"While I was talking thus, the Counsellor, who was present, hadprepared an answer, and had resolved to resume all I had said,according to the formality of a debate, in which things aregenerally repeated more faithfully than they are answered, as ifthe chief trial to be made were of men's memories. 'You havetalked prettily, for a stranger,' said he, 'having heard of manythings among us which you have not been able to consider well; butI will make the whole matter plain to you, and will first repeat inorder all that you have said; then I will show how much yourignorance of our affairs has misled you; and will, in the lastplace, answer all your arguments. And, that I may begin where Ipromised, there were four things--' 'Hold your peace!' said theCardinal; 'this will take up too much time; therefore we will, atpresent, ease you of the trouble of answering, and reserve it toour next meeting, which shall be to-morrow, if Raphael's affairsand yours can admit of it. But, Raphael,' said he to me, 'I wouldgladly know upon what reason it is that you think theft ought notto be punished by death: would you give way to it? or do youpropose any other punishment that will be more useful to thepublic? for, since death does not restrain theft, if men thoughttheir lives would be safe, what fear or force could restrain illmen? On the contrary, they would look on the mitigation of thepunishment as an invitation to commit more crimes.' I answered,'It seems to me a very unjust thing to take away a man's life for alittle money, for nothing in the world can be of equal value with aman's life: and if it be said, "that it is not for the money thatone suffers, but for his breaking the law," I must say, extremejustice is an extreme injury: for we ought not to approve of thoseterrible laws that make the smallest offences capital, nor of thatopinion of the Stoics that makes all crimes equal; as if there wereno difference to be made between the killing a man and the takinghis purse, between which, if we examine things impartially, thereis no likeness nor proportion. God has commanded us not to kill,and shall we kill so easily for a little money? But if one shallsay, that by that law we are only forbid to kill any except whenthe laws of the land allow of it, upon the same grounds, laws maybe made, in some cases, to allow of adultery and perjury: for Godhaving taken from us the right of disposing either of our own or ofother people's lives, if it is pretended that the mutual consent ofmen in making laws can authorise man-slaughter in cases in whichGod has given us no example, that it frees people from theobligation of the divine law, and so makes murder a lawful action,what is this, but to give a preference to human laws before thedivine? and, if this is once admitted, by the same rule men may, inall other things, put what restrictions they please upon the lawsof God. If, by the Mosaical law, though it was rough and severe,as being a yoke laid on an obstinate and servile nation, men wereonly fined, and not put to death for theft, we cannot imagine, thatin this new law of mercy, in which God treats us with thetenderness of a father, He has given us a greater licence tocruelty than He did to the Jews. Upon these reasons it is, that Ithink putting thieves to death is not lawful; and it is plain andobvious that it is absurd and of ill consequence to thecommonwealth that a thief and a murderer should be equallypunished; for if a robber sees that his danger is the same if he isconvicted of theft as if he were guilty of murder, this willnaturally incite him to kill the person whom otherwise he wouldonly have robbed; since, if the punishment is the same, there ismore security, and less danger of discovery, when he that can bestmake it is put out of the way; so that terrifying thieves too muchprovokes them to cruelty.

"But as to the question, 'What more convenient way of punishmentcan be found?' I think it much easier to find out that than toinvent anything that is worse; why should we doubt but the way thatwas so long in use among the old Romans, who understood so well thearts of government, was very proper for their punishment? Theycondemned such as they found guilty of great crimes to work theirwhole lives in quarries, or to dig in mines with chains about them.But the method that I liked best was that which I observed in mytravels in Persia, among the Polylerits, who are a considerable andwell-governed people: they pay a yearly tribute to the King ofPersia, but in all other respects they are a free nation, andgoverned by their own laws: they lie far from the sea, and areenvironed with hills; and, being contented with the productions oftheir own country, which is very fruitful, they have littlecommerce with any other nation; and as they, according to thegenius of their country, have no inclination to enlarge theirborders, so their mountains and the pension they pay to thePersian, secure them from all invasions. Thus they have no warsamong them; they live rather conveniently than with splendour, andmay be rather called a happy nation than either eminent or famous;for I do not think that they are known, so much as by name, to anybut their next neighbours. Those that are found guilty of theftamong them are bound to make restitution to the owner, and not, asit is in other places, to the prince, for they reckon that theprince has no more right to the stolen goods than the thief; but ifthat which was stolen is no more in being, then the goods of thethieves are estimated, and restitution being made out of them, theremainder is given to their wives and children; and they themselvesare condemned to serve in the public works, but are neitherimprisoned nor chained, unless there happens to be someextraordinary circumstance in their crimes. They go about looseand free, working for the public: if they are idle or backward towork they are whipped, but if they work hard they are well used andtreated without any mark of reproach; only the lists of them arecalled always at night, and then they are shut up. They suffer noother uneasiness but this of constant labour; for, as they work forthe public, so they are well entertained out of the public stock,which is done differently in different places: in some placeswhatever is bestowed on them is raised by a charitablecontribution; and, though this way may seem uncertain, yet somerciful are the inclinations of that people, that they areplentifully supplied by it; but in other places public revenues areset aside for them, or there is a constant tax or poll-money raisedfor their maintenance. In some places they are set to no publicwork, but every private man that has occasion to hire workmen goesto the market-places and hires them of the public, a little lowerthan he would do a freeman. If they go lazily about their task hemay quicken them with the whip. By this means there is always somepiece of work or other to be done by them; and, besides theirlivelihood, they earn somewhat still to the public. They all weara peculiar habit, of one certain colour, and their hair is croppeda little above their ears, and a piece of one of their ears is cutoff. Their friends are allowed to give them either meat, drink, orclothes, so they are of their proper colour; but it is death, bothto the giver and taker, if they give them money; nor is it lesspenal for any freeman to take money from them upon any accountwhatsoever: and it is also death for any of these slaves (so theyare called) to handle arms. Those of every division of the countryare distinguished by a peculiar mark, which it is capital for themto lay aside, to go out of their bounds, or to talk with a slave ofanother jurisdiction, and the very attempt of an escape is no lesspenal than an escape itself. It is death for any other slave to beaccessory to it; and if a freeman engages in it he is condemned toslavery. Those that discover it are rewarded--if freemen, inmoney; and if slaves, with liberty, together with a pardon forbeing accessory to it; that so they might find their account ratherin repenting of their engaging in such a design than in persistingin it.

"These are their laws and rules in relation to robbery, and it isobvious that they are as advantageous as they are mild and gentle;since vice is not only destroyed and men preserved, but they aretreated in such a manner as to make them see the necessity of beinghonest and of employing the rest of their lives in repairing theinjuries they had formerly done to society. Nor is there anyhazard of their falling back to their old customs; and so little dotravellers apprehend mischief from them that they generally makeuse of them for guides from one jurisdiction to another; for thereis nothing left them by which they can rob or be the better for it,since, as they are disarmed, so the very having of money is asufficient conviction: and as they are certainly punished ifdiscovered, so they cannot hope to escape; for their habit being inall the parts of it different from what is commonly worn, theycannot fly away, unless they would go naked, and even then theircropped ear would betray them. The only danger to be feared fromthem is their conspiring against the government; but those of onedivision and neighbourhood can do nothing to any purpose unless ageneral conspiracy were laid amongst all the slaves of the severaljurisdictions, which cannot be done, since they cannot meet or talktogether; nor will any venture on a design where the concealmentwould be so dangerous and the discovery so profitable. None arequite hopeless of recovering their freedom, since by theirobedience and patience, and by giving good grounds to believe thatthey will change their manner of life for the future, they mayexpect at last to obtain their liberty, and some are every yearrestored to it upon the good character that is given of them. WhenI had related all this, I added that I did not see why such amethod might not be followed with more advantage than could ever beexpected from that severe justice which the Counsellor magnified somuch. To this he answered, 'That it could never take place inEngland without endangering the whole nation.' As he said this heshook his head, made some grimaces, and held his peace, while allthe company seemed of his opinion, except the Cardinal, who said,'That it was not easy to form a judgment of its success, since itwas a method that never yet had been tried; but if,' said he, 'whensentence of death were passed upon a thief, the prince wouldreprieve him for a while, and make the experiment upon him, denyinghim the privilege of a sanctuary; and then, if it had a good effectupon him, it might take place; and, if it did not succeed, theworst would be to execute the sentence on the condemned persons atlast; and I do not see,' added he, 'why it would be either unjust,inconvenient, or at all dangerous to admit of such a delay; in myopinion the vagabonds ought to be treated in the same manner,against whom, though we have made many laws, yet we have not beenable to gain our end.' When the Cardinal had done, they allcommended the motion, though they had despised it when it came fromme, but more particularly commended what related to the vagabonds,because it was his own observation

"I do not know whether it be worth while to tell what followed, forit was very ridiculous; but I shall venture at it, for as it is notforeign to this matter, so some good use may be made of it. Therewas a Jester standing by, that counterfeited the fool so naturallythat he seemed to be really one; the jests which he offered were socold and dull that we laughed more at him than at them, yetsometimes he said, as it were by chance, things that were notunpleasant, so as to justify the old proverb, 'That he who throwsthe dice often, will sometimes have a lucky hit.' When one of thecompany had said that I had taken care of the thieves, and theCardinal had taken care of the vagabonds, so that there remainednothing but that some public provision might be made for the poorwhom sickness or old age had disabled from labour, 'Leave that tome,' said the Fool, 'and I shall take care of them, for there is nosort of people whose sight I abhor more, having been so often vexedwith them and with their sad complaints; but as dolefully soever asthey have told their tale, they could never prevail so far as todraw one penny from me; for either I had no mind to give themanything, or, when I had a mind to do it, I had nothing to givethem; and they now know me so well that they will not lose theirlabour, but let me pass without giving me any trouble, because theyhope for nothing--no more, in faith, than if I were a priest; but Iwould have a law made for sending all these beggars to monasteries,the men to the Benedictines, to be made lay-brothers, and the womento be nuns.' The Cardinal smiled, and approved of it in jest, butthe rest liked it in earnest. There was a divine present, who,though he was a grave morose man, yet he was so pleased with thisreflection that was made on the priests and the monks that he beganto play with the Fool, and said to him, 'This will not deliver youfrom all beggars, except you take care of us Friars.' 'That isdone already,' answered the Fool, 'for the Cardinal has providedfor you by what he proposed for restraining vagabonds and settingthem to work, for I know no vagabonds like you.' This was wellentertained by the whole company, who, looking at the Cardinal,perceived that he was not ill-pleased at it; only the Friar himselfwas vexed, as may be easily imagined, and fell into such a passionthat he could not forbear railing at the Fool, and calling himknave, slanderer, backbiter, and son of perdition, and then citedsome dreadful threatenings out of the Scriptures against him. Nowthe Jester thought he was in his element, and laid about himfreely. 'Good Friar,' said he, 'be not angry, for it is written,"In patience possess your soul."' The Friar answered (for I shallgive you his own words), 'I am not angry, you hangman; at least, Ido not sin in it, for the Psalmist says, "Be ye angry and sinnot."' Upon this the Cardinal admonished him gently, and wishedhim to govern his passions. 'No, my lord,' said he, 'I speak notbut from a good zeal, which I ought to have, for holy men have hada good zeal, as it is said, "The zeal of thy house hath eaten meup;" and we sing in our church that those who mocked Elisha as hewent up to the house of God felt the effects of his zeal, whichthat mocker, that rogue, that scoundrel, will perhaps feel.' 'Youdo this, perhaps, with a good intention,' said the Cardinal, 'but,in my opinion, it were wiser in you, and perhaps better for you,not to engage in so ridiculous a contest with a Fool.' 'No, mylord,' answered he, 'that were not wisely done, for Solomon, thewisest of men, said, "Answer a Fool according to his folly," whichI now do, and show him the ditch into which he will fall, if he isnot aware of it; for if the many mockers of Elisha, who was but onebald man, felt the effect of his zeal, what will become of themocker of so many Friars, among whom there are so many bald men?We have, likewise, a bull, by which all that jeer us areexcommunicated.' When the Cardinal saw that there was no end ofthis matter he made a sign to the Fool to withdraw, turned thediscourse another way, and soon after rose from the table, and,dismissing us, went to hear causes.

"Thus, Mr. More, I have run out into a tedious story, of the lengthof which I had been ashamed, if (as you earnestly begged it of me)I had not observed you to hearken to it as if you had no mind tolose any part of it. I might have contracted it, but I resolved togive it you at large, that you might observe how those thatdespised what I had proposed, no sooner perceived that the Cardinaldid not dislike it but presently approved of it, fawned so on himand flattered him to such a degree, that they in good earnestapplauded those things that he only liked in jest; and from henceyou may gather how little courtiers would value either me or mycounsels."

To this I answered, "You have done me a great kindness in thisrelation; for as everything has been related by you both wisely andpleasantly, so you have made me imagine that I was in my owncountry and grown young again, by recalling that good Cardinal tomy thoughts, in whose family I was bred from my childhood; andthough you are, upon other accounts, very dear to me, yet you arethe dearer because you honour his memory so much; but, after allthis, I cannot change my opinion, for I still think that if youcould overcome that aversion which you have to the courts ofprinces, you might, by the advice which it is in your power togive, do a great deal of good to mankind, and this is the chiefdesign that every good man ought to propose to himself in living;for your friend Plato thinks that nations will be happy when eitherphilosophers become kings or kings become philosophers. It is nowonder if we are so far from that happiness while philosophers willnot think it their duty to assist kings with their counsels.""They are not so base-minded," said he, "but that they wouldwillingly do it; many of them have already done it by their books,if those that are in power would but hearken to their good advice.But Plato judged right, that except kings themselves becamephilosophers, they who from their childhood are corrupted withfalse notions would never fall in entirely with the counsels ofphilosophers, and this he himself found to be true in the person ofDionysius.

"Do not you think that if I were about any king, proposing goodlaws to him, and endeavouring to root out all the cursed seeds ofevil that I found in him, I should either be turned out of hiscourt, or, at least, be laughed at for my pains? For instance,what could I signify if I were about the King of France, and werecalled into his cabinet council, where several wise men, in hishearing, were proposing many expedients; as, by what arts andpractices Milan may be kept, and Naples, that has so often slippedout of their hands, recovered; how the Venetians, and after themthe rest of Italy, may be subdued; and then how Flanders, Brabant,and all Burgundy, and some other kingdoms which he has swallowedalready in his designs, may be added to his empire? One proposes aleague with the Venetians, to be kept as long as he finds hisaccount in it, and that he ought to communicate counsels with them,and give them some share of the spoil till his success makes himneed or fear them less, and then it will be easily taken out oftheir hands; another proposes the hiring the Germans and thesecuring the Switzers by pensions; another proposes the gaining theEmperor by money, which is omnipotent with him; another proposes apeace with the King of Arragon, and, in order to cement it, theyielding up the King of Navarre's pretensions; another thinks thatthe Prince of Castile is to be wrought on by the hope of analliance, and that some of his courtiers are to be gained to theFrench faction by pensions. The hardest point of all is, what todo with England; a treaty of peace is to be set on foot, and, iftheir alliance is not to be depended on, yet it is to be made asfirm as possible, and they are to be called friends, but suspectedas enemies: therefore the Scots are to be kept in readiness to belet loose upon England on every occasion; and some banishednobleman is to be supported underhand (for by the League it cannotbe done avowedly) who has a pretension to the crown, by which meansthat suspected prince may be kept in awe. Now when things are inso great a fermentation, and so many gallant men are joiningcounsels how to carry on the war, if so mean a man as I shouldstand up and wish them to change all their counsels--to let Italyalone and stay at home, since the kingdom of France was indeedgreater than could be well governed by one man; that therefore heought not to think of adding others to it; and if, after this, Ishould propose to them the resolutions of the Achorians, a peoplethat lie on the south-east of Utopia, who long ago engaged in warin order to add to the dominions of their prince another kingdom,to which he had some pretensions by an ancient alliance: this theyconquered, but found that the trouble of keeping it was equal tothat by which it was gained; that the conquered people were alwayseither in rebellion or exposed to foreign invasions, while theywere obliged to be incessantly at war, either for or against them,and consequently could never disband their army; that in themeantime they were oppressed with taxes, their money went out ofthe kingdom, their blood was spilt for the glory of their kingwithout procuring the least advantage to the people, who receivednot the smallest benefit from it even in time of peace; and that,their manners being corrupted by a long war, robbery and murderseverywhere abounded, and their laws fell into contempt; while theirking, distracted with the care of two kingdoms, was the less ableto apply his mind to the interest of either. When they saw this,and that there would be no end to these evils, they by jointcounsels made an humble address to their king, desiring him tochoose which of the two kingdoms he had the greatest mind to keep,since he could not hold both; for they were too great a people tobe governed by a divided king, since no man would willingly have agroom that should be in common between him and another. Upon whichthe good prince was forced to quit his new kingdom to one of hisfriends (who was not long after dethroned), and to be contentedwith his old one. To this I would add that after all those warlikeattempts, the vast confusions, and the consumption both of treasureand of people that must follow them, perhaps upon some misfortunethey might be forced to throw up all at last; therefore it seemedmuch more eligible that the king should improve his ancient kingdomall he could, and make it flourish as much as possible; that heshould love his people, and be beloved of them; that he should liveamong them, govern them gently and let other kingdoms alone, sincethat which had fallen to his share was big enough, if not too big,for him:- pray, how do you think would such a speech as this beheard?"

"I confess," said I, "I think not very well."

"But what," said he, "if I should sort with another kind ofministers, whose chief contrivances and consultations were by whatart the prince's treasures might be increased? where one proposesraising the value of specie when the king's debts are large, andlowering it when his revenues were to come in, that so he mightboth pay much with a little, and in a little receive a great deal.Another proposes a pretence of a war, that money might be raised inorder to carry it on, and that a peace be concluded as soon as thatwas done; and this with such appearances of religion as might workon the people, and make them impute it to the piety of theirprince, and to his tenderness for the lives of his subjects. Athird offers some old musty laws that have been antiquated by along disuse (and which, as they had been forgotten by all thesubjects, so they had also been broken by them), and proposes thelevying the penalties of these laws, that, as it would bring in avast treasure, so there might be a very good pretence for it, sinceit would look like the executing a law and the doing of justice. Afourth proposes the prohibiting of many things under severepenalties, especially such as were against the interest of thepeople, and then the dispensing with these prohibitions, upon greatcompositions, to those who might find their advantage in breakingthem. This would serve two ends, both of them acceptable to many;for as those whose avarice led them to transgress would be severelyfined, so the selling licences dear would look as if a prince weretender of his people, and would not easily, or at low rates,dispense with anything that might be against the public good.Another proposes that the judges must be made sure, that they maydeclare always in favour of the prerogative; that they must beoften sent for to court, that the king may hear them argue thosepoints in which he is concerned; since, how unjust soever any ofhis pretensions may be, yet still some one or other of them, eitherout of contradiction to others, or the pride of singularity, or tomake their court, would find out some pretence or other to give theking a fair colour to carry the point. For if the judges butdiffer in opinion, the clearest thing in the world is made by thatmeans disputable, and truth being once brought in question, theking may then take advantage to expound the law for his own profit;while the judges that stand out will be brought over, eitherthrough fear or modesty; and they being thus gained, all of themmay be sent to the Bench to give sentence boldly as the king wouldhave it; for fair pretences will never be wanting when sentence isto be given in the prince's favour. It will either be said thatequity lies of his side, or some words in the law will be foundsounding that way, or some forced sense will be put on them; and,when all other things fail, the king's undoubted prerogative willbe pretended, as that which is above all law, and to which areligious judge ought to have a special regard. Thus all consentto that maxim of Crassus, that a prince cannot have treasureenough, since he must maintain his armies out of it; that a king,even though he would, can do nothing unjustly; that all property isin him, not excepting the very persons of his subjects; and that noman has any other property but that which the king, out of hisgoodness, thinks fit to leave him. And they think it is theprince's interest that there be as little of this left as may be,as if it were his advantage that his people should have neitherriches nor liberty, since these things make them less easy andwilling to submit to a cruel and unjust government. Whereasnecessity and poverty blunts them, makes them patient, beats themdown, and breaks that height of spirit that might otherwise disposethem to rebel. Now what if, after all these propositions weremade, I should rise up and assert that such counsels were bothunbecoming a king and mischievous to him; and that not only hishonour, but his safety, consisted more in his people's wealth thanin his own; if I should show that they choose a king for their ownsake, and not for his; that, by his care and endeavours, they maybe both easy and safe; and that, therefore, a prince ought to takemore care of his people's happiness than of his own, as a shepherdis to take more care of his flock than of himself? It is alsocertain that they are much mistaken that think the poverty of anation is a mean of the public safety. Who quarrel more thanbeggars? who does more earnestly long for a change than he that isuneasy in his present circumstances? and who run to createconfusions with so desperate a boldness as those who, havingnothing to lose, hope to gain by them? If a king should fall undersuch contempt or envy that he could not keep his subjects in theirduty but by oppression and ill usage, and by rendering them poorand miserable, it were certainly better for him to quit his kingdomthan to retain it by such methods as make him, while he keeps thename of authority, lose the majesty due to it. Nor is it sobecoming the dignity of a king to reign over beggars as over richand happy subjects. And therefore Fabricius, a man of a noble andexalted temper, said 'he would rather govern rich men than be richhimself; since for one man to abound in wealth and pleasure whenall about him are mourning and groaning, is to be a gaoler and nota king.' He is an unskilful physician that cannot cure one diseasewithout casting his patient into another. So he that can find noother way for correcting the errors of his people but by takingfrom them the conveniences of life, shows that he knows not what itis to govern a free nation. He himself ought rather to shake offhis sloth, or to lay down his pride, for the contempt or hatredthat his people have for him takes its rise from the vices inhimself. Let him live upon what belongs to him without wrongingothers, and accommodate his expense to his revenue. Let him punishcrimes, and, by his wise conduct, let him endeavour to preventthem, rather than be severe when he has suffered them to be toocommon. Let him not rashly revive laws that are abrogated bydisuse, especially if they have been long forgotten and neverwanted. And let him never take any penalty for the breach of themto which a judge would not give way in a private man, but wouldlook on him as a crafty and unjust person for pretending to it. Tothese things I would add that law among the Macarians--a peoplethat live not far from Utopia--by which their king, on the day onwhich he began to reign, is tied by an oath, confirmed by solemnsacrifices, never to have at once above a thousand pounds of goldin his treasures, or so much silver as is equal to that in value.This law, they tell us, was made by an excellent king who had moreregard to the riches of his country than to his own wealth, andtherefore provided against the heaping up of so much treasure asmight impoverish the people. He thought that moderate sum might besufficient for any accident, if either the king had occasion for itagainst the rebels, or the kingdom against the invasion of anenemy; but that it was not enough to encourage a prince to invadeother men's rights--a circumstance that was the chief cause of hismaking that law. He also thought that it was a good provision forthat free circulation of money so necessary for the course ofcommerce and exchange. And when a king must distribute all thoseextraordinary accessions that increase treasure beyond the duepitch, it makes him less disposed to oppress his subjects. Such aking as this will be the terror of ill men, and will be beloved byall the good.

"If, I say, I should talk of these or such-like things to men thathad taken their bias another way, how deaf would they be to all Icould say!" "No doubt, very deaf," answered I; "and no wonder, forone is never to offer propositions or advice that we are certainwill not be entertained. Discourses so much out of the road couldnot avail anything, nor have any effect on men whose minds wereprepossessed with different sentiments. This philosophical way ofspeculation is not unpleasant among friends in a free conversation;but there is no room for it in the courts of princes, where greataffairs are carried on by authority." "That is what I was saying,"replied he, "that there is no room for philosophy in the courts ofprinces." "Yes, there is," said I, "but not for this speculativephilosophy, that makes everything to be alike fitting at all times;but there is another philosophy that is more pliable, that knowsits proper scene, accommodates itself to it, and teaches a man withpropriety and decency to act that part which has fallen to hisshare. If when one of Plautus' comedies is upon the stage, and acompany of servants are acting their parts, you should come out inthe garb of a philosopher, and repeat, out of Octavia, a discourseof Seneca's to Nero, would it not be better for you to say nothingthan by mixing things of such different natures to make animpertinent tragi-comedy? for you spoil and corrupt the play thatis in hand when you mix with it things of an opposite nature, eventhough they are much better. Therefore go through with the playthat is acting the best you can, and do not confound it becauseanother that is pleasanter comes into your thoughts. It is even soin a commonwealth and in the councils of princes; if ill opinionscannot be quite rooted out, and you cannot cure some received viceaccording to your wishes, you must not, therefore, abandon thecommonwealth, for the same reasons as you should not forsake theship in a storm because you cannot command the winds. You are notobliged to assault people with discourses that are out of theirroad, when you see that their received notions must prevent yourmaking an impression upon them: you ought rather to cast about andto manage things with all the dexterity in your power, so that, ifyou are not able to make them go well, they may be as little ill aspossible; for, except all men were good, everything cannot beright, and that is a blessing that I do not at present hope tosee." "According to your argument," answered he, "all that I couldbe able to do would be to preserve myself from being mad while Iendeavoured to cure the madness of others; for, if I speak with, Imust repeat what I have said to you; and as for lying, whether aphilosopher can do it or not I cannot tell: I am sure I cannot doit. But though these discourses may be uneasy and ungrateful tothem, I do not see why they should seem foolish or extravagant;indeed, if I should either propose such things as Plato hascontrived in his 'Commonwealth,' or as the Utopians practise intheirs, though they might seem better, as certainly they are, yetthey are so different from our establishment, which is founded onproperty (there being no such thing among them), that I could notexpect that it would have any effect on them. But such discoursesas mine, which only call past evils to mind and give warning ofwhat may follow, leave nothing in them that is so absurd that theymay not be used at any time, for they can only be unpleasant tothose who are resolved to run headlong the contrary way; and if wemust let alone everything as absurd or extravagant--which, byreason of the wicked lives of many, may seem uncouth--we must, evenamong Christians, give over pressing the greatest part of thosethings that Christ hath taught us, though He has commanded us notto conceal them, but to proclaim on the housetops that which Hetaught in secret. The greatest parts of His precepts are moreopposite to the lives of the men of this age than any part of mydiscourse has been, but the preachers seem to have learned thatcraft to which you advise me: for they, observing that the worldwould not willingly suit their lives to the rules that Christ hasgiven, have fitted His doctrine, as if it had been a leaden rule,to their lives, that so, some way or other, they might agree withone another. But I see no other effect of this compliance exceptit be that men become more secure in their wickedness by it; andthis is all the success that I can have in a court, for I mustalways differ from the rest, and then I shall signify nothing; or,if I agree with them, I shall then only help forward their madness.I do not comprehend what you mean by your 'casting about,' or by'the bending and handling things so dexterously that, if they gonot well, they may go as little ill as may be;' for in courts theywill not bear with a man's holding his peace or conniving at whatothers do: a man must barefacedly approve of the worst counselsand consent to the blackest designs, so that he would pass for aspy, or, possibly, for a traitor, that did but coldly approve ofsuch wicked practices; and therefore when a man is engaged in sucha society, he will be so far from being able to mend matters by his'casting about,' as you call it, that he will find no occasions ofdoing any good--the ill company will sooner corrupt him than be thebetter for him; or if, notwithstanding all their ill company, hestill remains steady and innocent, yet their follies and knaverywill be imputed to him; and, by mixing counsels with them, he mustbear his share of all the blame that belongs wholly to others.

"It was no ill simile by which Plato set forth the unreasonablenessof a philosopher's meddling with government. 'If a man,' says he,'were to see a great company run out every day into the rain andtake delight in being wet--if he knew that it would be to nopurpose for him to go and persuade them to return to their housesin order to avoid the storm, and that all that could be expected byhis going to speak to them would be that he himself should be aswet as they, it would be best for him to keep within doors, and,since he had not influence enough to correct other people's folly,to take care to preserve himself.'

"Though, to speak plainly my real sentiments, I must freely ownthat as long as there is any property, and while money is thestandard of all other things, I cannot think that a nation can begoverned either justly or happily: not justly, because the bestthings will fall to the share of the worst men; nor happily,because all things will be divided among a few (and even these arenot in all respects happy), the rest being left to be absolutelymiserable. Therefore, when I reflect on the wise and goodconstitution of the Utopians, among whom all things are so wellgoverned and with so few laws, where virtue hath its due reward,and yet there is such an equality that every man lives in plenty--when I compare with them so many other nations that are stillmaking new laws, and yet can never bring their constitution to aright regulation; where, notwithstanding every one has hisproperty, yet all the laws that they can invent have not the powereither to obtain or preserve it, or even to enable men certainly todistinguish what is their own from what is another's, of which themany lawsuits that every day break out, and are eternallydepending, give too plain a demonstration--when, I say, I balanceall these things in my thoughts, I grow more favourable to Plato,and do not wonder that he resolved not to make any laws for such aswould not submit to a community of all things; for so wise a mancould not but foresee that the setting all upon a level was theonly way to make a nation happy; which cannot be obtained so longas there is property, for when every man draws to himself all thathe can compass, by one title or another, it must needs follow that,how plentiful soever a nation may be, yet a few dividing the wealthof it among themselves, the rest must fall into indigence. So thatthere will be two sorts of people among them, who deserve thattheir fortunes should be interchanged--the former useless, butwicked and ravenous; and the latter, who by their constant industryserve the public more than themselves, sincere and modest men--fromwhence I am persuaded that till property is taken away, there canbe no equitable or just distribution of things, nor can the worldbe happily governed; for as long as that is maintained, thegreatest and the far best part of mankind, will be still oppressedwith a load of cares and anxieties. I confess, without taking itquite away, those pressures that lie on a great part of mankind maybe made lighter, but they can never be quite removed; for if lawswere made to determine at how great an extent in soil, and at howmuch money, every man must stop--to limit the prince, that he mightnot grow too great; and to restrain the people, that they might notbecome too insolent--and that none might factiously aspire topublic employments, which ought neither to be sold nor madeburdensome by a great expense, since otherwise those that serve inthem would be tempted to reimburse themselves by cheats andviolence, and it would become necessary to find out rich men forundergoing those employments, which ought rather to be trusted tothe wise. These laws, I say, might have such effect as good dietand care might have on a sick man whose recovery is desperate; theymight allay and mitigate the disease, but it could never be quitehealed, nor the body politic be brought again to a good habit aslong as property remains; and it will fall out, as in acomplication of diseases, that by applying a remedy to one sore youwill provoke another, and that which removes the one ill symptomproduces others, while the strengthening one part of the bodyweakens the rest." "On the contrary," answered I, "it seems to methat men cannot live conveniently where all things are common. Howcan there be any plenty where every man will excuse himself fromlabour? for as the hope of gain doth not excite him, so theconfidence that he has in other men's industry may make himslothful. If people come to be pinched with want, and yet cannotdispose of anything as their own, what can follow upon this butperpetual sedition and bloodshed, especially when the reverence andauthority due to magistrates falls to the ground? for I cannotimagine how that can be kept up among those that are in all thingsequal to one another." "I do not wonder," said he, "that itappears so to you, since you have no notion, or at least no rightone, of such a constitution; but if you had been in Utopia with me,and had seen their laws and rules, as I did, for the space of fiveyears, in which I lived among them, and during which time I was sodelighted with them that indeed I should never have left them if ithad not been to make the discovery of that new world to theEuropeans, you would then confess that you had never seen a peopleso well constituted as they." "You will not easily persuade me,"said Peter, "that any nation in that new world is better governedthan those among us; for as our understandings are not worse thantheirs, so our government (if I mistake not) being more ancient, along practice has helped us to find out many conveniences of life,and some happy chances have discovered other things to us which noman's understanding could ever have invented." "As for theantiquity either of their government or of ours," said he, "youcannot pass a true judgment of it unless you had read theirhistories; for, if they are to be believed, they had towns amongthem before these parts were so much as inhabited; and as for thosediscoveries that have been either hit on by chance or made byingenious men, these might have happened there as well as here. Ido not deny but we are more ingenious than they are, but theyexceed us much in industry and application. They knew littleconcerning us before our arrival among them. They call us all by ageneral name of 'The nations that lie beyond the equinoctial line;'for their chronicle mentions a shipwreck that was made on theircoast twelve hundred years ago, and that some Romans and Egyptiansthat were in the ship, getting safe ashore, spent the rest of theirdays amongst them; and such was their ingenuity that from thissingle opportunity they drew the advantage of learning from thoseunlooked-for guests, and acquired all the useful arts that werethen among the Romans, and which were known to these shipwreckedmen; and by the hints that they gave them they themselves found outeven some of those arts which they could not fully explain, sohappily did they improve that accident of having some of our peoplecast upon their shore. But if such an accident has at any timebrought any from thence into Europe, we have been so far fromimproving it that we do not so much as remember it, as, inaftertimes perhaps, it will be forgot by our people that I was everthere; for though they, from one such accident, made themselvesmasters of all the good inventions that were among us, yet Ibelieve it would be long before we should learn or put in practiceany of the good institutions that are among them. And this is thetrue cause of their being better governed and living happier thanwe, though we come not short of them in point of understanding oroutward advantages." Upon this I said to him, "I earnestly beg youwould describe that island very particularly to us; be not tooshort, but set out in order all things relating to their soil,their rivers, their towns, their people, their manners,constitution, laws, and, in a word, all that you imagine we desireto know; and you may well imagine that we desire to know everythingconcerning them of which we are hitherto ignorant." "I will do itvery willingly," said he, "for I have digested the whole mattercarefully, but it will take up some time." "Let us go, then," saidI, "first and dine, and then we shall have leisure enough." Heconsented; we went in and dined, and after dinner came back and satdown in the same place. I ordered my servants to take care thatnone might come and interrupt us, and both Peter and I desiredRaphael to be as good as his word. When he saw that we were veryintent upon it he paused a little to recollect himself, and beganin this manner:-

"The island of Utopia is in the middle two hundred miles broad, andholds almost at the same breadth over a great part of it, but itgrows narrower towards both ends. Its figure is not unlike acrescent. Between its horns the sea comes in eleven miles broad,and spreads itself into a great bay, which is environed with landto the compass of about five hundred miles, and is well securedfrom winds. In this bay there is no great current; the whole coastis, as it were, one continued harbour, which gives all that live inthe island great convenience for mutual commerce. But the entryinto the bay, occasioned by rocks on the one hand and shallows onthe other, is very dangerous. In the middle of it there is onesingle rock which appears above water, and may, therefore, easilybe avoided; and on the top of it there is a tower, in which agarrison is kept; the other rocks lie under water, and are verydangerous. The channel is known only to the natives; so that ifany stranger should enter into the bay without one of their pilotshe would run great danger of shipwreck. For even they themselvescould not pass it safe if some marks that are on the coast did notdirect their way; and if these should be but a little shifted, anyfleet that might come against them, how great soever it were, wouldbe certainly lost. On the other side of the island there arelikewise many harbours; and the coast is so fortified, both bynature and art, that a small number of men can hinder the descentof a great army. But they report (and there remains good marks ofit to make it credible) that this was no island at first, but apart of the continent. Utopus, that conquered it (whose name itstill carries, for Abraxa was its first name), brought the rude anduncivilised inhabitants into such a good government, and to thatmeasure of politeness, that they now far excel all the rest ofmankind. Having soon subdued them, he designed to separate themfrom the continent, and to bring the sea quite round them. Toaccomplish this he ordered a deep channel to be dug, fifteen mileslong; and that the natives might not think he treated them likeslaves, he not only forced the inhabitants, but also his ownsoldiers, to labour in carrying it on. As he set a vast number ofmen to work, he, beyond all men's expectations, brought it to aspeedy conclusion. And his neighbours, who at first laughed at thefolly of the undertaking, no sooner saw it brought to perfectionthan they were struck with admiration and terror.

"There are fifty-four cities in the island, all large and wellbuilt, the manners, customs, and laws of which are the same, andthey are all contrived as near in the same manner as the ground onwhich they stand will allow. The nearest lie at least twenty-fourmiles' distance from one another, and the most remote are not sofar distant but that a man can go on foot in one day from it tothat which lies next it. Every city sends three of their wisestsenators once a year to Amaurot, to consult about their commonconcerns; for that is the chief town of the island, being situatednear the centre of it, so that it is the most convenient place fortheir assemblies. The jurisdiction of every city extends at leasttwenty miles, and, where the towns lie wider, they have much moreground. No town desires to enlarge its bounds, for the peopleconsider themselves rather as tenants than landlords. They havebuilt, over all the country, farmhouses for husbandmen, which arewell contrived, and furnished with all things necessary for countrylabour. Inhabitants are sent, by turns, from the cities to dwellin them; no country family has fewer than forty men and women init, besides two slaves. There is a master and a mistress set overevery family, and over thirty families there is a magistrate.Every year twenty of this family come back to the town after theyhave stayed two years in the country, and in their room there areother twenty sent from the town, that they may learn country workfrom those that have been already one year in the country, as theymust teach those that come to them the next from the town. By thismeans such as dwell in those country farms are never ignorant ofagriculture, and so commit no errors which might otherwise be fataland bring them under a scarcity of corn. But though there is everyyear such a shifting of the husbandmen to prevent any man beingforced against his will to follow that hard course of life toolong, yet many among them take such pleasure in it that they desireleave to continue in it many years. These husbandmen till theground, breed cattle, hew wood, and convey it to the towns eitherby land or water, as is most convenient. They breed an infinitemultitude of chickens in a very curious manner; for the hens do notsit and hatch them, but a vast number of eggs are laid in a gentleand equal heat in order to be hatched, and they are no sooner outof the shell, and able to stir about, but they seem to considerthose that feed them as their mothers, and follow them as otherchickens do the hen that hatched them. They breed very few horses,but those they have are full of mettle, and are kept only forexercising their youth in the art of sitting and riding them; forthey do not put them to any work, either of ploughing or carriage,in which they employ oxen. For though their horses are stronger,yet they find oxen can hold out longer; and as they are not subjectto so many diseases, so they are kept upon a less charge and withless trouble. And even when they are so worn out that they are nomore fit for labour, they are good meat at last. They sow no cornbut that which is to be their bread; for they drink either wine,cider or perry, and often water, sometimes boiled with honey orliquorice, with which they abound; and though they know exactly howmuch corn will serve every town and all that tract of country whichbelongs to it, yet they sow much more and breed more cattle thanare necessary for their consumption, and they give that overplus ofwhich they make no use to their neighbours. When they wantanything in the country which it does not produce, they fetch thatfrom the town, without carrying anything in exchange for it. Andthe magistrates of the town take care to see it given them; forthey meet generally in the town once a month, upon a festival day.When the time of harvest comes, the magistrates in the country sendto those in the towns and let them know how many hands they willneed for reaping the harvest; and the number they call for beingsent to them, they commonly despatch it all in one day.

OF THEIR TOWNS, PARTICULARLY OF AMAUROT

"He that knows one of their towns knows them all--they are so likeone another, except where the situation makes some difference. Ishall therefore describe one of them, and none is so proper asAmaurot; for as none is more eminent (all the rest yielding inprecedence to this, because it is the seat of their supremecouncil), so there was none of them better known to me, I havinglived five years all together in it.

"It lies upon the side of a hill, or, rather, a rising ground. Itsfigure is almost square, for from the one side of it, which shootsup almost to the top of the hill, it runs down, in a descent fortwo miles, to the river Anider; but it is a little broader theother way that runs along by the bank of that river. The Aniderrises about eighty miles above Amaurot, in a small spring at first.But other brooks falling into it, of which two are moreconsiderable than the rest, as it runs by Amaurot it is grown halfa mile broad; but, it still grows larger and larger, till, aftersixty miles' course below it, it is lost in the ocean. Between thetown and the sea, and for some miles above the town, it ebbs andflows every six hours with a strong current. The tide comes upabout thirty miles so full that there is nothing but salt water inthe river, the fresh water being driven back with its force; andabove that, for some miles, the water is brackish; but a littlehigher, as it runs by the town, it is quite fresh; and when thetide ebbs, it continues fresh all along to the sea. There is abridge cast over the river, not of timber, but of fair stone,consisting of many stately arches; it lies at that part of the townwhich is farthest from the sea, so that the ships, without anyhindrance, lie all along the side of the town. There is, likewise,another river that runs by it, which, though it is not great, yetit runs pleasantly, for it rises out of the same hill on which thetown stands, and so runs down through it and falls into the Anider.The inhabitants have fortified the fountain-head of this river,which springs a little without the towns; that so, if they shouldhappen to be besieged, the enemy might not be able to stop ordivert the course of the water, nor poison it; from thence it iscarried, in earthen pipes, to the lower streets. And for thoseplaces of the town to which the water of that small river cannot beconveyed, they have great cisterns for receiving the rain-water,which supplies the want of the other. The town is compassed with ahigh and thick wall, in which there are many towers and forts;there is also a broad and deep dry ditch, set thick with thorns,cast round three sides of the town, and the river is instead of aditch on the fourth side. The streets are very convenient for allcarriage, and are well sheltered from the winds. Their buildingsare good, and are so uniform that a whole side of a street lookslike one house. The streets are twenty feet broad; there liegardens behind all their houses. These are large, but enclosedwith buildings, that on all hands face the streets, so that everyhouse has both a door to the street and a back door to the garden.Their doors have all two leaves, which, as they are easily opened,so they shut of their own accord; and, there being no propertyamong them, every man may freely enter into any house whatsoever.At every ten years' end they shift their houses by lots. Theycultivate their gardens with great care, so that they have bothvines, fruits, herbs, and flowers in them; and all is so wellordered and so finely kept that I never saw gardens anywhere thatwere both so fruitful and so beautiful as theirs. And this humourof ordering their gardens so well is not only kept up by thepleasure they find in it, but also by an emulation between theinhabitants of the several streets, who vie with each other. Andthere is, indeed, nothing belonging to the whole town that is bothmore useful and more pleasant. So that he who founded the townseems to have taken care of nothing more than of their gardens; forthey say the whole scheme of the town was designed at first byUtopus, but he left all that belonged to the ornament andimprovement of it to be added by those that should come after him,that being too much for one man to bring to perfection. Theirrecords, that contain the history of their town and State, arepreserved with an exact care, and run backwards seventeen hundredand sixty years. From these it appears that their houses were atfirst low and mean, like cottages, made of any sort of timber, andwere built with mud walls and thatched with straw. But now theirhouses are three storeys high, the fronts of them are faced eitherwith stone, plastering, or brick, and between the facings of theirwalls they throw in their rubbish. Their roofs are flat, and onthem they lay a sort of plaster, which costs very little, and yetis so tempered that it is not apt to take fire, and yet resists theweather more than lead. They have great quantities of glass amongthem, with which they glaze their windows; they use also in theirwindows a thin linen cloth, that is so oiled or gummed that it bothkeeps out the wind and gives free admission to the light.

OF THEIR MAGISTRATES

"Thirty families choose every year a magistrate, who was ancientlycalled the Syphogrant, but is now called the Philarch; and overevery ten Syphogrants, with the families subject to them, there isanother magistrate, who was anciently called the Tranibore, but oflate the Archphilarch. All the Syphogrants, who are in number twohundred, choose the Prince out of a list of four who are named bythe people of the four divisions of the city; but they take anoath, before they proceed to an election, that they will choose himwhom they think most fit for the office: they give him theirvoices secretly, so that it is not known for whom every one giveshis suffrage. The Prince is for life, unless he is removed uponsuspicion of some design to enslave the people. The Tranibors arenew chosen every year, but yet they are, for the most part,continued; all their other magistrates are only annual. TheTranibors meet every third day, and oftener if necessary, andconsult with the Prince either concerning the affairs of the Statein general, or such private differences as may arise sometimesamong the people, though that falls out but seldom. There arealways two Syphogrants called into the council chamber, and theseare changed every day. It is a fundamental rule of theirgovernment, that no conclusion can be made in anything that relatesto the public till it has been first debated three several days intheir council. It is death for any to meet and consult concerningthe State, unless it be either in their ordinary council, or in theassembly of the whole body of the people.

"These things have been so provided among them that the Prince andthe Tranibors may not conspire together to change the governmentand enslave the people; and therefore when anything of greatimportance is set on foot, it is sent to the Syphogrants, who,after they have communicated it to the families that belong totheir divisions, and have considered it among themselves, makereport to the senate; and, upon great occasions, the matter isreferred to the council of the whole island. One rule observed intheir council is, never to debate a thing on the same day in whichit is first proposed; for that is always referred to the nextmeeting, that so men may not rashly and in the heat of discourseengage themselves too soon, which might bias them so much that,instead of consulting the good of the public, they might ratherstudy to support their first opinions, and by a perverse andpreposterous sort of shame hazard their country rather thanendanger their own reputation, or venture the being suspected tohave wanted foresight in the expedients that they at firstproposed; and therefore, to prevent this, they take care that theymay rather be deliberate than sudden in their motions.

OF THEIR TRADES, AND MANNER OF LIFE

"Agriculture is that which is so universally understood among themthat no person, either man or woman, is ignorant of it; they areinstructed in it from their childhood, partly by what they learn atschool, and partly by practice, they being led out often into thefields about the town, where they not only see others at work butare likewise exercised in it themselves. Besides agriculture,which is so common to them all, every man has some peculiar tradeto which he applies himself; such as the manufacture of wool orflax, masonry, smith's work, or carpenter's work; for there is nosort of trade that is in great esteem among them. Throughout theisland they wear the same sort of clothes, without any otherdistinction except what is necessary to distinguish the two sexesand the married and unmarried. The fashion never alters, and as itis neither disagreeable nor uneasy, so it is suited to the climate,and calculated both for their summers and winters. Every familymakes their own clothes; but all among them, women as well as men,learn one or other of the trades formerly mentioned. Women, forthe most part, deal in wool and flax, which suit best with theirweakness, leaving the ruder trades to the men. The same tradegenerally passes down from father to son, inclinations oftenfollowing descent: but if any man's genius lies another way he is,by adoption, translated into a family that deals in the trade towhich he is inclined; and when that is to be done, care is taken,not only by his father, but by the magistrate, that he may be putto a discreet and good man: and if, after a person has learned onetrade, he desires to acquire another, that is also allowed, and ismanaged in the same manner as the former. When he has learnedboth, he follows that which he likes best, unless the public hasmore occasion for the other.

The chief, and almost the only, business of the Syphogrants is totake care that no man may live idle, but that every one may followhis trade diligently; yet they do not wear themselves out withperpetual toil from morning to night, as if they were beasts ofburden, which as it is indeed a heavy slavery, so it is everywherethe common course of life amongst all mechanics except theUtopians: but they, dividing the day and night into twenty-fourhours, appoint six of these for work, three of which are beforedinner and three after; they then sup, and at eight o'clock,counting from noon, go to bed and sleep eight hours: the rest oftheir time, besides that taken up in work, eating, and sleeping, isleft to every man's discretion; yet they are not to abuse thatinterval to luxury and idleness, but must employ it in some properexercise, according to their various inclinations, which is, forthe most part, reading. It is ordinary to have public lecturesevery morning before daybreak, at which none are obliged to appearbut those who are marked out for literature; yet a great many, bothmen and women, of all ranks, go to hear lectures of one sort orother, according to their inclinations: but if others that are notmade for contemplation, choose rather to employ themselves at thattime in their trades, as many of them do, they are not hindered,but are rather commended, as men that take care to serve theircountry. After supper they spend an hour in some diversion, insummer in their gardens, and in winter in the halls where they eat,where they entertain each other either with music or discourse.They do not so much as know dice, or any such foolish andmischievous games. They have, however, two sorts of games notunlike our chess; the one is between several numbers, in which onenumber, as it were, consumes another; the other resembles a battlebetween the virtues and the vices, in which the enmity in the vicesamong themselves, and their agreement against virtue, is notunpleasantly represented; together with the special oppositionbetween the particular virtues and vices; as also the methods bywhich vice either openly assaults or secretly undermines virtue;and virtue, on the other hand, resists it. But the time appointedfor labour is to be narrowly examined, otherwise you may imaginethat since there are only six hours appointed for work, they mayfall under a scarcity of necessary provisions: but it is so farfrom being true that this time is not sufficient for supplying themwith plenty of all things, either necessary or convenient, that itis rather too much; and this you will easily apprehend if youconsider how great a part of all other nations is quite idle.First, women generally do little, who are the half of mankind; andif some few women are diligent, their husbands are idle: thenconsider the great company of idle priests, and of those that arecalled religious men; add to these all rich men, chiefly those thathave estates in land, who are called noblemen and gentlemen,together with their families, made up of idle persons, that arekept more for show than use; add to these all those strong andlusty beggars that go about pretending some disease in excuse fortheir begging; and upon the whole account you will find that thenumber of those by whose labours mankind is supplied is much lessthan you perhaps imagined: then consider how few of those thatwork are employed in labours that are of real service, for we, whomeasure all things by money, give rise to many trades that are bothvain and superfluous, and serve only to support riot and luxury:for if those who work were employed only in such things as theconveniences of life require, there would be such an abundance ofthem that the prices of them would so sink that tradesmen could notbe maintained by their gains; if all those who labour about uselessthings were set to more profitable employments, and if all theythat languish out their lives in sloth and idleness (every one ofwhom consumes as much as any two of the men that are at work) wereforced to labour, you may easily imagine that a small proportion oftime would serve for doing all that is either necessary,profitable, or pleasant to mankind, especially while pleasure iskept within its due bounds: this appears very plainly in Utopia;for there, in a great city, and in all the territory that liesround it, you can scarce find five hundred, either men or women, bytheir age and strength capable of labour, that are not engaged init. Even the Syphogrants, though excused by the law, yet do notexcuse themselves, but work, that by their examples they may excitethe industry of the rest of the people; the like exemption isallowed to those who, being recommended to the people by thepriests, are, by the secret suffrages of the Syphogrants,privileged from labour, that they may apply themselves wholly tostudy; and if any of these fall short of those hopes that theyseemed at first to give, they are obliged to return to work; andsometimes a mechanic that so employs his leisure hours as to make aconsiderable advancement in learning is eased from being atradesman and ranked among their learned men. Out of these theychoose their ambassadors, their priests, their Tranibors, and thePrince himself, anciently called their Barzenes, but is called oflate their Ademus.

"And thus from the great numbers among them that are neithersuffered to be idle nor to be employed in any fruitless labour, youmay easily make the estimate how much may be done in those fewhours in which they are obliged to labour. But, besides all thathas been already said, it is to be considered that the needful artsamong them are managed with less labour than anywhere else. Thebuilding or the repairing of houses among us employ many hands,because often a thriftless heir suffers a house that his fatherbuilt to fall into decay, so that his successor must, at a greatcost, repair that which he might have kept up with a small charge;it frequently happens that the same house which one person built ata vast expense is neglected by another, who thinks he has a moredelicate sense of the beauties of architecture, and he, sufferingit to fall to ruin, builds another at no less charge. But amongthe Utopians all things are so regulated that men very seldom buildupon a new piece of ground, and are not only very quick inrepairing their houses, but show their foresight in preventingtheir decay, so that their buildings are preserved very long withbut very little labour, and thus the builders, to whom that carebelongs, are often without employment, except the hewing of timberand the squaring of stones, that the materials may be in readinessfor raising a building very suddenly when there is any occasion forit. As to their clothes, observe how little work is spent in them;while they are at labour they are clothed with leather and skins,cut carelessly about them, which will last seven years, and whenthey appear in public they put on an upper garment which hides theother; and these are all of one colour, and that is the naturalcolour of the wool. As they need less woollen cloth than is usedanywhere else, so that which they make use of is much less costly;they use linen cloth more, but that is prepared with less labour,and they value cloth only by the whiteness of the linen or thecleanness of the wool, without much regard to the fineness of thethread. While in other places four or five upper garments ofwoollen cloth of different colours, and as many vests of silk, willscarce serve one man, and while those that are nicer think ten toofew, every man there is content with one, which very often serveshim two years; nor is there anything that can tempt a man to desiremore, for if he had them he would neither be the, warmer nor wouldhe make one jot the better appearance for it. And thus, since theyare all employed in some useful labour, and since they contentthemselves with fewer things, it falls out that there is a greatabundance of all things among them; so that it frequently happensthat, for want of other work, vast numbers are sent out to mend thehighways; but when no public undertaking is to be performed, thehours of working are lessened. The magistrates never engage thepeople in unnecessary labour, since the chief end of theconstitution is to regulate labour by the necessities of thepublic, and to allow the people as much time as is necessary forthe improvement of their minds, in which they think the happinessof life consists.

OF THEIR TRAFFIC

"But it is now time to explain to you the mutual intercourse ofthis people, their commerce, and the rules by which all things aredistributed among them.

"As their cities are composed of families, so their families aremade up of those that are nearly related to one another. Theirwomen, when they grow up, are married out, but all the males, bothchildren and grandchildren, live still in the same house, in greatobedience to their common parent, unless age has weakened hisunderstanding, and in that case he that is next to him in age comesin his room; but lest any city should become either too great, orby any accident be dispeopled, provision is made that none of theircities may contain above six thousand families, besides those ofthe country around it. No family may have less than ten and morethan sixteen persons in it, but there can be no determined numberfor the children under age; this rule is easily observed byremoving some of the children of a more fruitful couple to anyother family that does not abound so much in them. By the samerule they supply cities that do not increase so fast from othersthat breed faster; and if there is any increase over the wholeisland, then they draw out a number of their citizens out of theseveral towns and send them over to the neighbouring continent,where, if they find that the inhabitants have more soil than theycan well cultivate, they fix a colony, taking the inhabitants intotheir society if they are willing to live with them; and where theydo that of their own accord, they quickly enter into their methodof life and conform to their rules, and this proves a happiness toboth nations; for, according to their constitution, such care istaken of the soil that it becomes fruitful enough for both, thoughit might be otherwise too narrow and barren for any one of them.But if the natives refuse to conform themselves to their laws theydrive them out of those bounds which they mark out for themselves,and use force if they resist, for they account it a very just causeof war for a nation to hinder others from possessing a part of thatsoil of which they make no use, but which is suffered to lie idleand uncultivated, since every man has, by the law of nature, aright to such a waste portion of the earth as is necessary for hissubsistence. If an accident has so lessened the number of theinhabitants of any of their towns that it cannot be made up fromthe other towns of the island without diminishing them too much(which is said to have fallen out but twice since they were first apeople, when great numbers were carried off by the plague), theloss is then supplied by recalling as many as are wanted from theircolonies, for they will abandon these rather than suffer the townsin the island to sink too low.

"But to return to their manner of living in society: the oldestman of every family, as has been already said, is its governor;wives serve their husbands, and children their parents, and alwaysthe younger serves the elder. Every city is divided into fourequal parts, and in the middle of each there is a market-place.What is brought thither, and manufactured by the several families,is carried from thence to houses appointed for that purpose, inwhich all things of a sort are laid by themselves; and thitherevery father goes, and takes whatsoever he or his family stand inneed of, without either paying for it or leaving anything inexchange. There is no reason for giving a denial to any person,since there is such plenty of everything among them; and there isno danger of a man's asking for more than he needs; they have noinducements to do this, since they are sure they shall always besupplied: it is the fear of want that makes any of the whole raceof animals either greedy or ravenous; but, besides fear, there isin man a pride that makes him fancy it a particular glory to excelothers in pomp and excess; but by the laws of the Utopians, thereis no room for this. Near these markets there are others for allsorts of provisions, where there are not only herbs, fruits, andbread, but also fish, fowl, and cattle. There are also, withouttheir towns, places appointed near some running water for killingtheir beasts and for washing away their filth, which is done bytheir slaves; for they suffer none of their citizens to kill theircattle, because they think that pity and good-nature, which areamong the best of those affections that are born with us, are muchimpaired by the butchering of animals; nor do they suffer anythingthat is foul or unclean to be brought within their towns, lest theair should be infected by ill-smells, which might prejudice theirhealth. In every street there are great halls, that lie at anequal distance from each other, distinguished by particular names.The Syphogrants dwell in those that are set over thirty families,fifteen lying on one side of it, and as many on the other. Inthese halls they all meet and have their repasts; the stewards ofevery one of them come to the market-place at an appointed hour,and according to the number of those that belong to the hall theycarry home provisions. But they take more care of their sick thanof any others; these are lodged and provided for in publichospitals. They have belonging to every town four hospitals, thatare built without their walls, and are so large that they may passfor little towns; by this means, if they had ever such a number ofsick persons, they could lodge them conveniently, and at such adistance that such of them as are sick of infectious diseases maybe kept so far from the rest that there can be no danger ofcontagion. The hospitals are furnished and stored with all thingsthat are convenient for the ease and recovery of the sick; andthose that are put in them are looked after with such tender andwatchful care, and are so constantly attended by their skilfulphysicians, that as none is sent to them against their will, sothere is scarce one in a whole town that, if he should fall ill,would not choose rather to go thither than lie sick at home.

"After the steward of the hospitals has taken for the sickwhatsoever the physician prescribes, then the best things that areleft in the market are distributed equally among the halls inproportion to their numbers; only, in the first place, they servethe Prince, the Chief Priest, the Tranibors, the Ambassadors, andstrangers, if there are any, which, indeed, falls out but seldom,and for whom there are houses, well furnished, particularlyappointed for their reception when they come among them. At thehours of dinner and supper the whole Syphogranty being calledtogether by sound of trumpet, they meet and eat together, exceptonly such as are in the hospitals or lie sick at home. Yet, afterthe halls are served, no man is hindered to carry provisions homefrom the marketplace, for they know that none does that but forsome good reason; for though any that will may eat at home, yetnone does it willingly, since it is both ridiculous and foolish forany to give themselves the trouble to make ready an ill dinner athome when there is a much more plentiful one made ready for him sonear hand. All the uneasy and sordid services about these hallsare performed by their slaves; but the dressing and cooking theirmeat, and the ordering their tables, belong only to the women, allthose of every family taking it by turns. They sit at three ormore tables, according to their number; the men sit towards thewall, and the women sit on the other side, that if any of themshould be taken suddenly ill, which is no uncommon case amongstwomen with child, she may, without disturbing the rest, rise and goto the nurses' room (who are there with the sucking children),where there is always clean water at hand and cradles, in whichthey may lay the young children if there is occasion for it, and afire, that they may shift and dress them before it. Every child isnursed by its own mother if death or sickness does not intervene;and in that case the Syphogrants' wives find out a nurse quickly,which is no hard matter, for any one that can do it offers herselfcheerfully; for as they are much inclined to that piece of mercy,so the child whom they nurse considers the nurse as its mother.All the children under five years old sit among the nurses; therest of the younger sort of both sexes, till they are fit formarriage, either serve those that sit at table, or, if they are notstrong enough for that, stand by them in great silence and eat whatis given them; nor have they any other formality of dining. In themiddle of the first table, which stands across the upper end of thehall, sit the Syphogrant and his wife, for that is the chief andmost conspicuous place; next to him sit two of the most ancient,for there go always four to a mess. If there is a temple withinthe Syphogranty, the Priest and his wife sit with the Syphograntabove all the rest; next them there is a mixture of old and young,who are so placed that as the young are set near others, so theyare mixed with the more ancient; which, they say, was appointed onthis account: that the gravity of the old people, and thereverence that is due to them, might restrain the younger from allindecent words and gestures. Dishes are not served up to the wholetable at first, but the best are first set before the old, whoseseats are distinguished from the young, and, after them, all therest are served alike. The old men distribute to the younger anycurious meats that happen to be set before them, if there is notsuch an abundance of them that the whole company may be servedalike.

"Thus old men are honoured with a particular respect, yet all therest fare as well as they. Both dinner and supper are begun withsome lecture of morality that is read to them; but it is so shortthat it is not tedious nor uneasy to them to hear it. From hencethe old men take occasion to entertain those about them with someuseful and pleasant enlargements; but they do not engross the wholediscourse so to themselves during their meals that the younger maynot put in for a share; on the contrary, they engage them to talk,that so they may, in that free way of conversation, find out theforce of every one's spirit and observe his temper. They despatchtheir dinners quickly, but sit long at supper, because they go towork after the one, and are to sleep after the other, during whichthey think the stomach carries on the concoction more vigorously.They never sup without music, and there is always fruit served upafter meat; while they are at table some burn perfumes and sprinkleabout fragrant ointments and sweet waters--in short, they wantnothing that may cheer up their spirits; they give themselves alarge allowance that way, and indulge themselves in all suchpleasures as are attended with no inconvenience. Thus do thosethat are in the towns live together; but in the country, where theylive at a great distance, every one eats at home, and no familywants any necessary sort of provision, for it is from them thatprovisions are sent unto those that live in the towns.

OF THE TRAVELLING OF THE UTOPIANS

If any man has a mind to visit his friends that live in some othertown, or desires to travel and see the rest of the country, heobtains leave very easily from the Syphogrant and Tranibors, whenthere is no particular occasion for him at home. Such as travelcarry with them a passport from the Prince, which both certifiesthe licence that is granted for travelling, and limits the time oftheir return. They are furnished with a waggon and a slave, whodrives the oxen and looks after them; but, unless there are womenin the company, the waggon is sent back at the end of the journeyas a needless encumbrance. While they are on the road they carryno provisions with them, yet they want for nothing, but areeverywhere treated as if they were at home. If they stay in anyplace longer than a night, every one follows his proper occupation,and is very well used by those of his own trade; but if any mangoes out of the city to which he belongs without leave, and isfound rambling without a passport, he is severely treated, he ispunished as a fugitive, and sent home disgracefully; and, if hefalls again into the like fault, is condemned to slavery. If anyman has a mind to travel only over the precinct of his own city, hemay freely do it, with his father's permission and his wife'sconsent; but when he comes into any of the country houses, if heexpects to be entertained by them, he must labour with them andconform to their rules; and if he does this, he may freely go overthe whole precinct, being then as useful to the city to which hebelongs as if he were still within it. Thus you see that there areno idle persons among them, nor pretences of excusing any fromlabour. There are no taverns, no alehouses, nor stews among them,nor any other occasions of corrupting each other, of getting intocorners, or forming themselves into parties; all men live in fullview, so that all are obliged both to perform their ordinary taskand to employ themselves well in their spare hours; and it iscertain that a people thus ordered must live in great abundance ofall things, and these being equally distributed among them, no mancan want or be obliged to beg.

"In their great council at Amaurot, to which there are three sentfrom every town once a year, they examine what towns abound inprovisions and what are under any scarcity, that so the one may befurnished from the other; and this is done freely, without any sortof exchange; for, according to their plenty or scarcity, theysupply or are supplied from one another, so that indeed the wholeisland is, as it were, one family. When they have thus taken careof their whole country, and laid up stores for two years (whichthey do to prevent the ill consequences of an unfavourable season),they order an exportation of the overplus, both of corn, honey,wool, flax, wood, wax, tallow, leather, and cattle, which they sendout, commonly in great quantities, to other nations. They order aseventh part of all these goods to be freely given to the poor ofthe countries to which they send them, and sell the rest atmoderate rates; and by this exchange they not only bring back thosefew things that they need at home (for, indeed, they scarce needanything but iron), but likewise a great deal of gold and silver;and by their driving this trade so long, it is not to be imaginedhow vast a treasure they have got among them, so that now they donot much care whether they sell off their merchandise for money inhand or upon trust. A great part of their treasure is now inbonds; but in all their contracts no private man stands bound, butthe writing runs in the name of the town; and the towns that owethem money raise it from those private hands that owe it to them,lay it up in their public chamber, or enjoy the profit of it tillthe Utopians call for it; and they choose rather to let thegreatest part of it lie in their hands, who make advantage by it,than to call for it themselves; but if they see that any of theirother neighbours stand more in need of it, then they call it in andlend it to them. Whenever they are engaged in war, which is theonly occasion in which their treasure can be usefully employed,they make use of it themselves; in great extremities or suddenaccidents they employ it in hiring foreign troops, whom they morewillingly expose to danger than their own people; they give themgreat pay, knowing well that this will work even on their enemies;that it will engage them either to betray their own side, or, atleast, to desert it; and that it is the best means of raisingmutual jealousies among them. For this end they have an incredibletreasure; but they do not keep it as a treasure, but in such amanner as I am almost afraid to tell, lest you think it soextravagant as to be hardly credible. This I have the more reasonto apprehend because, if I had not seen it myself, I could not havebeen easily persuaded to have believed it upon any man's report.

"It is certain that all things appear incredible to us inproportion as they differ from known customs; but one who can judgearight will not wonder to find that, since their constitutiondiffers so much from ours, their value of gold and silver should bemeasured by a very different standard; for since they have no usefor money among themselves, but keep it as a provision againstevents which seldom happen, and between which there are generallylong intervening intervals, they value it no farther than itdeserves--that is, in proportion to its use. So that it is plainthey must prefer iron either to gold or silver, for men can no morelive without iron than without fire or water; but Nature has markedout no use for the other metals so essential as not easily to bedispensed with. The folly of men has enhanced the value of goldand silver because of their scarcity; whereas, on the contrary, itis their opinion that Nature, as an indulgent parent, has freelygiven us all the best things in great abundance, such as water andearth, but has laid up and hid from us the things that are vain anduseless.

"If these metals were laid up in any tower in the kingdom it wouldraise a jealousy of the Prince and Senate, and give birth to thatfoolish mistrust into which the people are apt to fall--a jealousyof their intending to sacrifice the interest of the public to their